Tag: The Clash

U.K. charity War Child turns 20 this year and the organization is marking the occasion by releasing 'War Child 20: The Best Of' as a digital album only on February 18th. The album is a collection of tracks that artists have donated to them over the years. Tracks include a rendition of The Beatles' "Come Together" by Smokin' Mojo Filters, a supergroup featuring McCartney, ex-Jam frontman Paul Weller and former Oasis guitarist/songwriter Noel Gallagher.

The album also includes the McCartney rarity "Calico Skies", a remix version of the 2002 David Bowie song "Everyone Says Hi", "Miss Sarajevo" by The Passengers, a collaboration between U2 and late opera legend Luciano Pavarotti; and a cover of The Clash's "Straight to Hell" by U.K. pop star Lily Allen with help from Mick Jones.

With all proceeds of the sale coming directly to War Child, the album tracks have been selected to show the diversity and quality of all the artists who have supported the cause for the last two decades.

War Child also also offering a free download from Muse performing a rendition of The Animals' hit "House of the Rising Sun" that blends into their own song "Time Is Running Out." http://muse.warchild.org.uk/

The Isle of Wight festival last weekend promised to be one of the concert events of 2012, and despite the rain and mud, it delivered. Pearl Jam, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, along with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band delivered memorable headlining sets, and Black Stone Cherry returned for another rocking appearance. Check out the footage below.

In case you don't know, The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island in England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–5 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent. The Isle of Wight Festival is an legendary concert experience, originating in 1968.

Here's one of my fav's Black Stone Cherry, with the only footage I've found posted of their set. VH1 Classic in the U.S. aired some of the SkyArts footage last Sunday night, but I didn't tune in early enough to see and BSC. They did show Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty and Pearl Jam, and much of that footage in available below as well.

Pearl Jam had an incredible set, which included many of their most well known tracks. At one point in the set, Eddie Vedder stopped down to speak about his admiration for the late Clash singer Joe Strummer and how he was on their minds as they played the festival. Vedder explained, "He would have loved this place. We were thinking about it on the way here, and sad to say, it’ll be almost 10 years in December he’s not been with us." The band then kicked into 'Arms Aloft' from Strummer’s late-in-life group the Mescaleros. The group has trotted out the cover at several stops over the past year.

Pearl Jam also performed a cover of the Beatles 'Rain' as a bit of commentary on the situation, and included the Ramones 'Blitzkrieg Bop,' the English Beat's 'Save It for Later,' and Jimi Hendrix's 'Little Wing' were infused into 'Daughter,' 'Better Man,' and 'Yellow Ledbetter.'

Tom Petty played his first ever U.K. festival headlining gig at the Isle of Wight Festival on Friday (June 22). It was part of his first U.K. trek in 20 year. The show opened with the 1978 classic track 'Listen to Her Heart' followed by 'You Wreck Me,' and hits like 'Don’t Come Around Here No More,' 'Free Fallin',' and 'Learning to Fly.'

Petty and the Heartbreakers then busted out some surprises, including the well-know Traveling Wilburys track 'Handle with Care' and Fleetwood Mac's 'Oh Well,' before wrapping up the set with 'Mary Jane’s Last Dance' and 'American Girl.'

Petty will complete his current European run with dates in the Netherlands, Germany, France and Italy.

Tom Petty’s Isle of Wight Set:
1. Listen to Her Heart
2. You Wreck Me
3. I Won’t Back Down
4. Here Comes My Girl
5. Handle with Care
6. Good Enough
7. Oh Well
8. Something Big
9. Don’t Come Around Here No More
10. Free Fallin'
11. It’s Good to be King
12. Something Good Coming
13. Learning to Fly
14. Yer So Bad
15. I Shoulda Known It
16. Refugee
17. Runnin’ Down a Dream
18. Mary Jane’s Last Dance
19. American Girl

Bruce Springsteen and the E Steet Band wrapped up the festival with an epic three-hour set, closing on June 24th with a cover of "Twist and Shout," the 1962 Phil Medley and Bert Russell song made famous by the Isley Brothers and the Beatles. Though rain and mud overtook the island, the enthusiastic crowd kept the energy level high from beginning to end. Springsteen lets loose with some dance moves and extended jam time for his bandmates. "I've got a fuckin' boat to catch!" he jokes halfway through the song. "I gotta get on a fuckin' boat!"

Springsteen's "Wrecking Ball" tour is currently in Europe through July 31st, before continuing in North America on August 14th.

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band setlist:
1. Badlands
2. No Surrender
3. We Take Care Of Our Own
4. Wrecking Ball
5. Death to My Hometown
6. My City of Ruins
7. Spirit in the Night
8. Lonesome Day
9. Jack of All Trades
10. Atlantic City
11. Because the Night
12. Working on the Highway
13. Shackled and Drawn
14. Waitin' on a Sunny Day
15. The River
16. The Rising
17. Out in the Street
18. Land of Hope and Dreams
Encore:
19. We Are Alive
20. Born in the U.S.A.
21. Born to Run
22. Glory Days
23. Dancing in the Dark
24. Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
25. Twist and Shout

Record Store Day 2012 is upon us next weekend (April 21) and a more than worthy Iggy Pop is the 2012 Ambassador. Record Store Day started five years ago when 700+ American indie stores came together to celebrate record store culture. It always takes place on the third Saturday in April. The U.K. followed suit, with 2012 marking its fourth celebration as an independent sector. Similar to the U.S., the U.K. indie stores partner with bands to celebrate art of music with special exclusive releases that are desirable to own and fun to collect. Iggy will be making his own Record Day Store stop at Sweat Records for Sweatstock in Miami, Florida. If you're in the area, get over there!

Check out this fantastic video of Ambassador Iggy sharing his vinyl memories. He talks about his first purchase, working in a record store, and so much more: www.recordstoreday.com

Please support your local Record Store! It is more important than you know. With the talk of Best Buy closing stores, and the past bankruptsy of Circuit City, our local Record Stores are one of the last places to be exposed to and buy new music in that type of enviroment. Fuck Wal-Mart (and Best Buy and Circuit City for that matter), we need to keep the experience alive of going to a business where they care about all music and care about exposing new artists of merit. The shared experience and coolness of a howntown record store CANNOT go away!! Get all the info and the stores near you here: www.recordstoreday.com

Let's highlight a few of the releases. Metallica's four-song EP called "Beyond Magnetic", which was made available digitally in December, and as a physical CD in January, will be released on silver vinyl to celebrate Record Store Day on April 21. The effort consists of the quartet of previously unheard tracks that the band unveiled in concert in December during its 30th-anniversary celebration. All four tunes, 'Hate Train', 'Just A Bullet Away', 'Hell And Back' and 'Rebel Of Babylon' were recorded during the sessions for the band's 2008 'Death Magnetic' album but left off the final track list. The studio versions of all four songs- all rough mixes were sent to Metalica fan club members one at a time, after each song was performed live during each of the band's four shows at the Fillmore in San Francisco.

Metallica talks Record Store Day: "We've always been big supporters of our friends at independent retail and the annual event the third Saturday of each April... we even helped kick off the first year in 2008 with an in-store appearance at one of our hometown stores! To add to the fun, this is no ordinary black vinyl release, but instead will be on silver vinyl with an exclusive Metallica sticker included in the package. Look for the EP on the special Saturday release date at your favorite local record store and on Metallica.com."

The Cult are releasing a picture disc with tracks from the phenomenal forthcoming 'For The Animals' album.

A vinyl re-issue of David Bowie’s 1972 single 'Starman' will get the special treatment on Record Store Day when it’s re-released as a limited-edition picture disc. The A-side will be the original single version, whereas the B-side will be the version of 'Starman' from the legendary (mono) 'Top Of The Pops' TV performance.

Bruce Springsteen's 'Rocky Ground' will be available as a 45 on Columbia, with the tracks: 'Rocky Ground' and 'The Promise.' 'Rocky Ground' is from Bruce's latest album 'Wrecking Ball' and 'The Promise' is Live from The Carousel, Asbury Park (audio taken from the DVD 'The Promise: The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town')

Disturbed will be release a definitive vinyl box-set edition, 'The Collection.' The 5 LP-set includes the original track listing from the band's entire full-length catalog: 'The Sickness,' 'Believe,' 'Ten Thousand Fists,' 'Indestructible' and 'Asylum' and is pressed on 140-gram vinyl.

Our Record Day Ambassador Iggy Pop and the Stooges will release a 12" Picture Disc 'Live at All Tomorrows Parties'
Tracks:
"1970"
"Night Theme/Beyond the Law"
"I Wanna Be Your Dog"
"Open Up And Bleed”
"Funhouse/No Fun"
"Iggy Interview"

Tracks from Iggy and the Stooges' All Tomorrow's Parties performance were hand selected by the band, along with a rare Iggy Pop interview by Greg Prato. It also comes with a download card offering the complete RAW POWER performance.

Iggy Pop 'Raw Power' 2LP set w/ both the 1973 David Bowie mix and the 1997 Iggy Pop mix, along with a 16 page book.

Janis Joplin's 'Highlights From the Pearl Sessions' will be released by Columbia on 10" vinyl, It's an exclusive RSD vinyl companion to the 2 CD reissue of Pearl (being released as The Pearl Sessions). Highlights from The Pearl Sessions presents an alternate view and an inside look at the Pearl recording sessions, with several previously unreleasd and almost-never-heard alternate takes and early versions of classic songs.

Jimmy Falon's 'Tebowie' will be available for the first time ever. It comes from a parody on his show of a David Bowie impression with lyrics about (now New York Jets quarterback) Tim Tebow. Tracks 'Tebowie' and 'Reading Rainbow.'

Joey Ramone will release a 45 with the tracks 'Rock 'n' Roll Is the Answer' and 'There's Got To Be More To Life'

Mastodon/Flaming Lips 'A Spoonful Weighs A Ton'
7" baby pink vinyl
Tracks:
The Flaming Lips' "A Spoonful Weighs A Ton" and a cover of the same song by Mastodon (the Mastodon track is brand new)

Misfits 'Walk Among Us' 45 will be available in red, blue and clear vinyl.

Paul McCartney 'Another Woman/Oh Woman Oh Why' on 45. A classic Paul McCartney vinyl single reissue manufactured exclusively for Record Store Day! "Another Day" was originally recorded in 1970, during the sessions for the album Ram. It was the first single of his solo career. It was originally released February 19, 1971 with 'Oh Woman, Oh Why' as the B-side. Upon its release 'Another Day'/'Oh Woman, Oh Why' reportedly sold over a million copies worldwide. It was a number one hit in France and Australia, in the U.K. it reached number two, in the U.S. it reached number five. This exclusive reissue single is taken from the forthcoming Paul McCartney Archive Collection edition of Ram

Rainbow's full album 'Long Live Rock N Roll' will be released on 12" Picture Disc

Small Faces are releasing two 45's. One of 'Tin Soldier/I Feel So Much Better Now,' and the other 'Itchycoo Park/I'm Only Dreaming'

The White Stripes 'Hand Springs' and Red Death at 6:14' on 7" 45 black and red swirled vinyl. Continuing in the mission of reissuing the nuggets of the White Stripes’ back catalog, Third Man plays Dr. Frankenstein/matchmaker to two stand-alone songs from the high time of the year 2000. “Hand Springs” was originally released as a split-single with the Dirtbombs and included free in issue #19 of Multiball magazine. “Red Death at 6:14” was initially released on the Jack White-produced compilation “Sympathetic Sounds of Detroit” and was later made available as a one-sided single from the folks at MOJO magazine. Both songs are quintessential White Stripes jams and finally pairing them together here makes (arguably) one of the best Stripes singles ever

LOS ANGELES -John Rigers (AP)-- He spent two years in a federal lockup for trying to sell cocaine to undercover agents, and all Wayne Kramer can think about these days is trying to find a way to get back behind bars.

This time, though, the guitar god for rock music's seminal pre-punk band, the MC5, wants to bring his ax with him – and a few dozen others for the inmates to play.

With a little help from friends like the Foo Fighters' Chris Shiflett, former Guns `N Roses guitarist Gilby Clarke and others, Kramer has formed Jail Guitar Doors USA.

He runs the nonprofit charitable organization with his wife, Margaret, out of the Hollywood studio where he makes a comfortable living these days composing music for movies and television. Over the past two years, Jail Guitar Doors USA has delivered scores of instruments to prisons and jails in Nevada, California and Texas.

"He's a great man. He's taken his skill, his talent and he's putting it to use, giving back to society," says Deputy David Bates, who has worked with Kramer in bringing guitars to several jails run by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. Bates, who calls music "the universal language," says he's seen the positive impact it has had on inmates.

So, Kramer says, has he. In his case, first hand.

"When I played music in prison, I wasn't in prison anymore," he says, as he sits in his studio over a lunch of vegetarian Thai food.

"And that's what we're trying to accomplish with the instrument donations," he continues. "That this is a way that you can get through this time, that you can go someplace else, you can get involved in your guitar."

Kramer, who is 63, is dressed in blue jeans and a plaid flannel shirt over a white T. Although he still looks about as thin as he did in the days when he was tearing up tunes like "Kick Out the Jams," the huge white-guy Afro that once nearly defined him as much as his guitar has given way to thinning close-cropped hair.

He was still in his 20s when he arrived at the federal prison in Lexington, Ky., in the 1970s, scheduled to do four years for trying to sell $10,000 worth of cocaine.

The place was bleak and dispiriting, especially for someone who had been a rock star just a few years before. But Kramer would soon discover there was a music class there. It was taught by the legendary jazz trumpeter Red Rodney, who was doing time himself for a heroin bust.

"He'd been to Lexington three times. ... He was kind of like the mayor of the prison," Kramer recalls, laughing. "He taught music theory."

The guitarist studied with him and, after he was paroled early, returned to the music business. But he still struggled for years to keep from going back.

The MC5, which had helped define punk rock with its screaming guitar chords and intense lyrics, had long since broken up, and Detroit's music scene had died along with the city's economy. Kramer, meanwhile, was still drinking heavily and associating with drug users, a prescription for violating parole.

So he moved to LA, got sober and began to do music for films like "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby."

He also put together a reconstituted MC5 and took it on a world tour, subbing in people like Clarke and Handsome Dick Manitoba of the Dictators for founding members "Fred "Sonic" Smith and Rob Tyner, who had died of heart attacks in their mid-40s.

Throughout the tours and other projects, however, Kramer kept yearning to give something back to those he'd left behind in prison. Many of them, he says, were similar to him: young guys looking at years behind bars for doing something stupid involving drugs.

"Clearly I knew I was doing wrong," he says of his own bust. "But these guys had briefcases full of money, and I'm out of work, and I look at those hundred-dollar bills and say, `Hmmm, let me make some calls.'

"I'm not Pollyannaish about it," he says of prison life. "There are some people who aren't going to change, aren't interested in changing and need to be locked up. I would put it at maybe 15 percent.

"But," he quickly adds, "that leaves 85 percent."

That thought led him to start visiting prisons, and it was at a concert he put on at Sing Sing in Ossining. N.Y., that Jail Guitar Doors USA was born.

One of the musicians he'd invited to take part was old friend Billy Bragg, and the British rocker arrived with the words Jail Guitar Doors written across his guitar.

He told Kramer he'd recently formed a group to help prisoners in his native England, taking the name for it from an old Clash song.

"Maybe you've heard it," Bragg told him.

"I said, `Yeah, I know the song, Billy," Kramer recalled with a guffaw. "It's about me."

He reminded him of the opening lyrics: "Let me tell you about Wayne and his deals with cocaine." The Clash had written it for Kramer when he was in prison. Thirty years later it would connect him to the cause he'd been looking for.

He began rounding up others to help. Finding them turned out to be relatively easy for a guy who had influenced a generation of guitarists.

"There aren't many people you can't speak too highly of, but Wayne is one of them," says Clarke who has gone behind bars with him. "The challenges he had in his life, the things he's overcome and the successes he's having now. And he's just one of the greatest guitarists there is. So when Wayne calls, I have to get involved."

Another was Shiflett, who first heard of Jail Guitar Doors through Bragg's website and visited a prison with him in England. When Kramer started his USA chapter, he quickly signed on. At one prison stop he taught a music workshop.

"We played a Bob Marley song," he recalled recently. "One of the most moving things about it, for me, was when we talked music there was no dissension at all. It was just a bunch of guys in a room talking about music."

Two years after its founding, Kramer would like to take Jail Guitar Doors USA nationwide. He knows that will take much more time, money and phone calls to people like Clarke and Shiflett.

But it's something he's committed to.

"I figure if maybe I can get a guitar in a kid's hand he can start to see himself as more than just a kid from the `hood in trouble," he says.

Variety reports that actress/director Julie Delpy (Before Sunrise, 2 Days in Paris) is set to direct a biopic based on the life of the Clash's Joe Strummer. The film is titled The Right Profile, after the Clash song that appears on the classic LP London Calling. According to Variety, the film will "focus on Strummer's life and his planned disappearance from the public spotlight in 1982."

Strummer died in December 2002, just a month before he and the Clash were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.